Cloud of the Qing Dynasty

"Exactly." Mu Liuyun nodded, talking about this unique skill that many people talk about, but few people can practice, he is also a little bit proud.

"Then aren't you invulnerable to fire and water?" Zhang Chi widened his eyes and looked at him reverently.

"I haven't practiced to that level yet, now at best I can only bounce off close enemies."

"...No." Zhang Chi said, "Since you have such a powerful ability, why didn't you use it to escape when you were entangled by me and fell into the mud?"

Mu Liuyun looked away a little embarrassedly: "At that time... I was too nervous, I forgot."

Zhang Chi looked at the sky speechlessly: "...So, I still have to practice."

"You still want to practice with me?" Mu Liuyun looked at him in surprise, "If I am suddenly frightened, I'm afraid I won't be able to control my strength, and it may hurt you."

Zhang Chi rubbed his nose, and said with a desperate attitude: "As long as it can prevent you from being attacked by traitors, I will admit to a little bit of pain."

"But..." Mu Liuyun looked at him suspiciously, "We've only known each other not long ago, why would you do this for me?"

Zhang Chi's nose was red and a little swollen, his hair was messed up, and there were still tears in his eyes, but he looked at Mu Liuyun sincerely with radiant eyes: "Because I like you. "

The words came out on impulse.

After saying it, Zhang Chi regretted it so much that he wished he could find a hole in the ground and go in.

He felt that he shouldn't be so impatient. How would Mu Liuyun react when a man he had known for less than 20 days suddenly confessed his love?

Will it bother you?Will he turn cold and leave him and never communicate with him again?Or will he just get angry and beat him up?

It was as if he was standing on the crumbling branch of an old dead tree on the edge of a windy cliff, his whole heart was hanging in his throat, and he had no idea what would happen next.

Is it a corner?Or to pieces?

Zhang Chi peeked at Mu Liuyun anxiously, like a prisoner waiting for the death sentence.

And Mu Liuyun just smiled faintly: "Me too."

"Ah?" Zhang Chi opened his mouth wide in astonishment, and the ecstasy in his heart only lasted for a moment, when Mu Liuyun patted him on the shoulder, and said calmly: "It's great to meet you this trip out of the mountain. "

Zhang Chi's mouth, which had been opened in astonishment, was closed again.

The fool also realized that what Mu Liuyun told him was not the same thing at all.

The "like" understood by the other party is probably the same as liking cats and puppies, or liking today's weather.

After all, he lived in a well-regulated sect since he was a child, and Mu Liuyun probably didn't even have the concept of broken sleeves, and he didn't know that men can have relationships that are more than friends.

Maybe in Mu Liuyun's eyes, Zhang Chi is just a useful and caring companion, and even better, a funny and fun friend.

No matter what, it is better to be "liked" than to be disliked at the moment. For a person who has no such ideas at all, being too aggressive can easily scare the other party, resulting in a failure. Zhang Chi thinks that he should let Mu Liuyun get used to him first. The existence of this person, and a certain affection for him, wait until the other party can't let go of this friendship, and then slowly figure it out.

Just like a deadly hunter staring at the same deadly prey, he only has one chance, as long as the first confession is not rejected, it is estimated that according to Mu Liuyun's temperament, he will avoid him like a fly, and never again Give him a second chance.After all, Mu Liuyun's martial arts are so powerful, wouldn't it be courting death if he wanted to force him to stay?

Zhang Chi was immersed in his little thoughts, while Mu Liuyun had already picked up a booklet that fell out when he fell, and patted the dust on it: "This is..."

"Give it back to me!" Zhang Chi's face turned red, and he grabbed the booklet nervously.

Mu Liuyun looked at him in astonishment.

"This... don't get me wrong... I'm not... well, forget it, just read it if you want." Zhang Chi threw the booklet on the table in frustration.

It was a simple book bound together with scattered pages, without a title page, and the contents inside were only some poorly written Chinese characters, with simple patterns drawn on the side as annotations, it looked like learning to recognize characters for children A picture book to use.

Mu Liuyun just glanced at the top page in doubt, and then looked at the bewildered Zhang Chi in confusion: "If there is anything that is inconvenient for me to read, don't force it, I'm not that curious."

"Actually, it's not inconvenient..." Zhang Chi said a little awkwardly, "I didn't have much chance to study when I was a child, until I joined the Northwest Army. The military teacher taught me to read some characters, but I still knew too little and didn't have time. I went to learn it specially, so I had to get a manuscript by myself, take it out and memorize it if I have nothing to do, and want to know a few more characters."

Only then did Mu Liuyun reach out to flip through the booklet. The edge of the booklet was a little damaged, obviously it was often read by people, and the annotation patterns were drawn very randomly. For example, the word "jump" is two black dots. There is a parabolic arrow in the middle, the character "Ding" is a semicircle, and the three vertical lines below represent three feet, and some patterns are more abstract. I am afraid that other than Zhang Chi who drew these patterns, no one else can understand how he made the patterns. correspond to the words.

Zhang Chi looked at Mu Liuyun rather embarrassedly.

Although nine and a half out of ten people in the Jianghu are illiterate and illiterate, but being uneducated is not a glorious thing after all. Zhang Chi doesn't know whether Mu Liuyun will look down on him because of this, or even speak out. laugh at.

Ke Mu Liuyun just pointed to one of the characters and said: "You have written the character Ya wrongly. This part of the character Ya should be a 'gui', not the 'lord' of the 'principal'."

As he spoke, he dipped his finger in the cold tea and wrote the correct word "Ya" on the table.

"Uh...really?" Zhang Chi said shyly, "I probably didn't see clearly when I copied this word."

Mu Liuyun smiled: "If you want to learn how to read, I can teach you."

"Really? Can you really teach me?" Zhang Chi's tone became a little excited.

Mu Liuyun nodded: "You have been taking care of my daily life and food all the way, and I should return it."

When he said that, Zhang Chi didn't dare to take credit for it: "It's all just a little effort. Since you and I are walking together now, I should do the things you don't know."

"You are not my disciple of the Shangqing Palace, so I can't take these things as your duty." Mu Liuyun said, "Anyway, I will be with you for a while, and teaching you how to read is just an after-dinner activity for me. It’s just a matter of raising your hands, don’t you want to learn?”

"I want to, of course I want to!" Zhang Chi couldn't refuse, and excitedly agreed.

***

After walking for a few more days, they came to Rongzhou, which is a somewhat bustling small town, close to the Minjiang River, which can be said to be the only place for water transportation on the Yangtze River waterway.

Not long after entering the city, they passed a wharf piled with a lot of goods. In a nearby open space, two groups of people were facing each other fiercely with a distance of several feet. A little bit more, both sides seem to be dressed in quackery, and the leader is scolding each other.

Among them, a burly man with beards scolded viciously: "Changshui Wharf has always been the territory of our Baisha Gang, when is it your turn to step in and collect the money!"

The thin, one-eyed middle-aged man on the other side spat on the ground: "Damn! The Changshui Wharf was originally the site of my sister-in-law's second cousin, so it's not because of you shameless tricks that killed my sister-in-law!" My second cousin robbed him of the handicap, and I was just seeking justice for my sister-in-law's second cousin!"

"What kind of rotten relatives who can't be beaten! Besides, that old man is not a bully from out of town, occupying our long water pier and bullying and suppressing the natives of Rongzhou with his little three-legged kung fu. Heaven walks!"

"Okay, you local, are you a local snake? I have been covering the Changshui Wharf all these years. What have you done for these local porters and trackers? Are you in charge of them being bullied? They are being bullied by the Giant Whale Gang. Did someone beat you up?"

"This is my territory, I don't care about it, it's not your turn!"

"If you are unconvinced by the owner of the iron-clad wharf and flowing water, let's see the truth!"

"Hit as soon as you hit me, I'm afraid of you! Brothers, cut this stinky shameless man with me!"

People on both sides yelled and fought together.

The people around seemed not to be surprised, moved to a safe distance, those who set up stalls continued to set up stalls, those who worked continued to work, and those who had nothing to do stood aside to watch the excitement and comment on it.

The two rode their horses and silently bypassed the battlefield. Mu Liuyun shook his head and sighed lightly. Zhang Chi seemed to know what he was thinking with a wry smile and said, "No way, this is Jianghu."

"I understand." Mu Liuyun said calmly, "Shangqing Palace and Jinghong Villa only seem to have more ostentation, but they are actually the same in essence."

Zhang Chi looked at him in surprise: "Why do you think of your school so much?"

"I don't think the Shangqing Palace is bad. As long as the methods are not insane and outrageous, there is nothing wrong with fighting for interests."

Zhang Chi was surprised for a while before he said: "...I always thought that people who practice Taoism should have no desire for material things."

"That's because we have a different understanding of 'Tao'." Mu Liuyun said, "There were two groups of monkeys near Qingfeng Pavilion where I used to live, and they fought endlessly for territory every now and then. Chasing them away and occupying that piece of forest, it is no different from gangs fighting in the rivers and lakes. Whether it is a sect or a group of monkeys, if there is no such fighting spirit, I am afraid it will perish long ago. If there are no fights everywhere in the rivers and lakes , that means that fighting is the 'way' of the rivers and lakes, and those who do not follow this 'way' will be destroyed."

Zhang Chi looked in surprise at the Taoist priest in front of him who was well-dressed and calm.

He really likes Mu Liuyun, but he really doesn't know him well enough.

After being stared at for a long time, Mu Liuyun turned his head and gave him a puzzled look. Then Zhang Chi looked away and looked at some ragged beggars on the corner of the street who were either sitting or squatting guarding broken bowls. .